A/N: First, I want to thank everyone who had read and commented on this story! It means so much to me to hear from people who read what I write, so THANKS! Second, I was asked about my update schedule. I don't really have one. I am trying to update during the week as often as I can. I will probably not updated on weekends because I am usually tied up with family stuffs. Third, Keep commenting! I really do love to hear from you!
"What a load of crap!" Sting complained loudly. "There was only two forest Vulcans, hardly worth our skills."
"Yeah! The great Sting should only be called on for REAL monsters!" Lector chimed in, giving his friend a unneeded ego boost.
"T'sk," was all Rogue managed to say. He wanted to argue that Sting wasn't doing a very good job in emulating Fairy Tail if he was going to constantly play his "holier than thou" card. The shadow mage, however, was no in the mood for the fist fight that would ensue upon bring it up. Plus, after what they saw at the Fairy guild earlier, he thought that perhaps emulating their past idols was no longer the best course of action.
"Fro thinks so too!" The pink frog exceed toddled along looking pleased. Rogue was certain the little exceed was just happy about the success of the mission more than anything else. The little exceed was a great companion but had little sense.
"I hope Lu-chan is still okay," Yukino was still worried about her friend. She believed in the Celestial Mage's capabilities, but it was hard to feel so in the dark about what might be happening to her friend. "I hope she is at the guild waiting for us."
Rogue nodded his head in agreement. "I know we said that we would believe in her to be okay, but it doesn't stop me from being concerned. I know that wherever she is being held isn't the problem. I worry about her staying at Fairy Tail."
"I have been thinking the same thing. When we see her, I'll talk to her about joining Sabertooth full time. I think she needs to get away from whatever is happening in that guild. It isn't good for her to be in such a dark place." Sting sounded mature for once.
Yukino knew that this seriousness was because the guild master had developed a soft spot for the mysteriously closed off blonde woman. She smiled at the thought of the two of them being together someday. Now that Natsu seemed to be out of the picture in Lucy's world, perhaps Sting would be able to find a place with their new friend. Yukino glanced at Rogue. Perhaps as Sting moved forward in his feelings for Lucy, she would be able to convince the stoic man to step into her light once in while.
"Have you checked in with Orga to see if Lucy's at the guild yet?" Rogue asked.
"Nah, he said he'd contact me if she showed up." Sting sounded rather nonchalant, but Rogue noticed that the white mage absently reach for his pack where his lacrima was located. The young guild master was exhibiting a subtle anxiety over their blonde friend, which Rogue found interesting.
The trio was soon reaching the train station and hoped to gain a ticket back to Crocus before night the next day. The Sabertooth guild hall was located on the outskirts of the capital in a suburb closer to the mountains. After the train, they would need to rent a magic vehicle or a carriage to get them to the guild hall, which would be a few hours walk on foot. One of the improvements Sting was working on as a budding guild master was a more permanent transportation solutions for the mages of his guild to use between the guild and the train station. It was always a pain to find a rental business that was open in the wee hours of the night and often meant that mages and teams were stranded an extra day in the city limits, not wanting to walk through the night.
"The train will be going through Magnolia. Should we stop and check to see if Lucy is back yet?" Yukino wondered.
"She said she'd meet us at the guild," Lector retorted. "She'll get there when she's ready."
Mavis was worried about Zeref. He hadn't moved much since Lucy stepped through Leo's gate. The fact that Lucy was allowed to move though Leo's gate was something of a fascination to the illusionist, but was not a priority for her to ponder over at the moment. No, her priority was to figure out why Zeref's eyes were still red and if she was going to have to divert a major world crisis because of it.
"Love," Mavis said, placing a hand over his clenched fist, which still rested on the table. "Zeref," she said a little louder after getting no response to her first call. The man seemed frozen. While Mavis agreed that what Lucy revealed was rather shocking, the idea that Natsu could say something so cruel to the woman he pined for was rather odd, she was surprised by how deeply it was affecting her lover.
"He obviously was just trying to keep her safe, right?" Zeref suddenly questioned. "I mean, he didn't really hate her all this time. I couldn't have been that wrong in my observations." Zeref looked up at Mavis and silently begged her to confirm his words. But then his anger seemed to rise out of nowhere, "What right did she have to change a thing! Now he can never explain himself, and this thing between them can never be fixed!"
"I can't say I blame her," Mavis said calmly. She squeezed Zeref's hand trying to bring him back out of his momentary rage.
"WHAT?" He stood and glared down at the tiny woman. "He hurt her feelings so what, she can just re-write his life?"
"She didn't rewrite all that much, really. Just the parts with her in it. Natsu is still Natsu."
"Pff't," Zeref pushed away from the table, his hand dragging down his face as he turned away from Mavis.
"That's not the point. She ran away."
"There is only so much someone can take. You know her past better than most. You followed her family line to ensure the Eclipse project happened without a hitch."
"Only until Layla opened the gate."
"Hah! We both know that's not true. You were fascinated with the Heartfillia Line and you vaguely kept tabs on Lucy because of that. Don't lie."
"Fine. But really… daddy didn't like her, boo hoo!"
"Zeref! You know it was more than that."
Zeref crossed his arms and looked away, pouting. He didn't want to admit that perhaps that girl had a bit of a rough life, but was it really enough to justify giving up on Natsu the way she did. "Damnit! She just gave up!"
"She saved his life. I wouldn't call that giving up. Despite everything Natsu said, she still saved him. Then she gave him the peace he'd asked for."
"He didn't ask to forget her. He probably didn't really want to be rid of her at all!"
"You are making assumptions about Natsu's feelings, love. We don't know what he wanted or what he was thinking."
"We need to make him remember," Zeref's eyes were no longer red, his anger subsided into a new emotion. "And if he can't remember, we are going to find a way to get them back together. I didn't fail at destroying the world just for my brother to end up unhappy."
"What if he is happy."
"He can never be happy with his soulmate missing."
"Soulmate?" Mavis hummed. "I tend to forget just how romantic you are at heart."
There was a lull in their conversation. Mavis hummed to herself and imagined how nice it would be to for things to work out in Lucy's favor. If only she could convince the girl to not leave Fairy Tail in the process. The darkness seeping in with her absence was already concerning. Perhaps she should check on things now that Lucy was free to return.
Mavis blinked. This time she brought Zeref with her. They both appeared in the guild with an illusion covering them. They were faceless members of the guild, appearing in a dark corner. No one noticed their appearance, the guild was too enraptured in the moment taking place between Lucy and the group of mages crowded around the bar.
Natsu was standing now, his nose twitching at the scent coming from the girl he could of sworn he never spent even a day with, yet the feeling of her presence was oddly calming. It was like he found something he didn't realize he was looking for. Without too much thought and ignoring the noise, or lack thereof, in the guild, he made his way to the retreating figure of the curvy blonde.
He couldn't tell if he wanted to fight her or… something else. Her back was to him, but she hadn't moved to leave since he called out to her. Her aroma encircled him, the closer he got to her form. The soap she used smelled like wildflowers, yet her underlying scent was more like a feeling than an actual smell. She felt like the night sky. Was that even a thing? He had never felt a smell before.
Natsu had the urge to reach out and touch her. He wanted to feel the silk of her hair, and for a moment he had a feeling of hand running through his locks. The disconcerting feeling made him pause. What was that? His hand was involuntarily reaching for her. He could feel her magic pulse briefly, as if it was reaching out to him. His own seemed to flare in response, causing a pocket of heat to form around him.
Before Natsu got the chance to pull the girl around to face him, his blue, furry companion flew past him in tears yelling "LUUUUSHIIIEEE!"
The girl turned. She at first looked surprised to see Natsu so close to her, but then her attention was quickly diverted to the small winged feline smacking into her breasts. Her eye quickly diverted from Natsu and focused on the cat. "Hi Happy," Lucy spoke softly as she wrapped her arms around the crying cat.
Natsu found himself momentary trapped in her brown eyes. He had a feeling of nostalgia, but couldn't figure out why. The girl's eyes were flat and dull, and if felt wrong to him. Her face was pale, bags under her eyes with dark circles surrounding them. She looked ill. The picture of her he could pull from his memory, when she was on the S Class Trial with Cana, showed a bubbly, vibrant girl. But this person in front of him just felt… wrong.
"I missed you and Natsu is being dumb and says we were never partners and now you're leaving us and I don't want you to gooooooo!" Happy's muffled complaints made Lucy's heart hurt. She hadn't meant to hurt the furball.
"I'm sorry Happy," Lucy's voice trembled slightly. "You are welcome to visit me at Sabertooth whenever you are near Crocus." She smiled gently and the little exceed's face brightened.
"Will I be able to bring Charla with me?"
Lucy's smile widened for a fraction of a second before it fell away. "Anyone you want, Happy."
The little exceed seemed to be reassured at her words and floated up into the air after activating his wings. Lucy was trying to back away from the group as Happy flew to block Natsu's view, whispering loudly to his friend about something she couldn't quite hear. She was stopped, however, when she ran into Bickslow's strong chest. He had this helmet off, something he had been more inclined to do inside the guild since the end of the Grand Magic Games. His totems were buzzing wildly around his head as they chanted "Cosplayer, Cosplayer!"
Instead of the usual tongue wagging laughter emanating from the tall Seith Mage, Lucy was faced with the glowing eyes of a very serious man. "What's happened to you Cosplay girl? Your souls all broken and cracked."
"Shh, Blickslow, not now," Lucy tried to silence the man before attention was drawn back to her. She should have known better. Lisanna and Levy were never going to let her go without a proper goodbye. She would have been fine if Natsu had still been out on his job with Happy like he was supposed to be.
"Oi, Cobra, are you hearing what I'm seeing over here?" Bickslow called over to the Poison Slayer, who had been hiding out in a corner of the guild with Meredy and Macbeth.
"She sounds like broken gears grinding on shards of glass. What the hell happened to Bright Eyes?" the generally grumpy tone of Cobra changing to one of angry concern as she shouted across the guild in response to his fellow soul reader.
Lucy glanced back at her friends, trying to tell them with her desperate look that they needed to help her get out of the guild. They both reacted, to her silent pleading, leaving Gray and Erza behind to try and to push their way past Natsu and Happy. They got trapped, however, in the argument between best friends when Natsu yelled loudly, "Tell 'im Levy! Just because she smells interesting does not mean I have lost memories or whatever!"
"She is your best friend Natsu!" Happy retorted, "Lisanna, help me out here."
Levy and Lisanna were exchanging glances as they tried to shrug off the onslaught of questions and statements being thrown between the friends. But everytime they gave a reply , they were pulled back in with either Natsu or Happy trying to drag them back into the argument.
"Eh, ah, ah Cosplay," Bickslow chided when she tried to duck under his arm. Out of instinct she reached for Loke's key, but it was gabbed out of her hands before she could call on him to gate jump with her. Cobra, of all people, had made his way across the guild and grabbed her precious escape plan from her fingers.
"There isn't any music playing anymore.. How long Bright Eyes?"
"The light is gone too," Bickslow commented under his breath. The Seith Mage glanced around the guild, finally noticing the deep shadows the lingered along the walls. When the guild had first started creating a soul link with Lucy, taking her moniker as the Light of Fairy Tail and making it a literal life line for the guild, Bickslow hadn't worried. He had watched as each member of the guild latched onto Lucy's soul as an actual beacon of light for the guild to follow and been astonished at how well the girl carried the load. He hadn't had the ability to check in on the fair maiden for months now, however, since she seemed to be gone more and more. Now that he finally had the chance, he was cringing at the obvious places where soul links had been yanked away leaving a broken mess behind inside Cosplay's soul. The light that used to shine brighter than the sun from within was now more like a cloudy day with a 100% chance of rain. The Light of Fairy Tail was almost completely out.
Lucy remained silent as she hopped trying to grab her key back from Cobra only to be thrown back from the man when a crack of lightning scorched the ground behind him and a glaring Laxus appeared.
"Gramps called and said you removed your guild mark, Blondie." Bickslow noticed that the soul link between Laxus and Cosplay was strained and ready to snap. He then glanced down at her hand and saw the pink symbol she used to hold up with pride was no longer there.
"I knew you couldn't be trusted with the guild," the towing man snarled while static jumped across his shoulders. He leaned down over Lucy as she struggled to get off the floor. "When you left to join Sabertooth, the old man should have let you. Pathetic."
Bickslow watched the soul link snap at Laxus's words. Lucy's pain, guilt, and sorrow flowed outwards like a tsunami. After that, it was like dominos falling as the rest of the guild murmured in agreement with Laxus and whatever remaining links there had been were snapping and pulling a part. It was so strange. The guild had never been so dead set on alienating someone before. Why now? Why her? As each link disappeared, the shadows in the guild grew longer and deeper.
"What the hell is happening here?" Cobra started. The surprise on his face from hearing the inner thoughts of the guild causing his one eye to pop. His hand that held Lucy's key fell to his side as he stood astonished at the whispers circling around him:
"She was never good enough to be a Fairy."
"That weak bitch, has she ever even helped in a battle?"
"Why'd we even let her in the guild?"
"Make her leave, Laxus!"
"She's not manly enough to stay here."
"Look at her cowering on the floor, what a bimbo."
While Cobra remained haunted by what was going on, and Bickslow worked on pulling Laxus away from her, Lucy shot off the ground, grabbed Loke's key, and disappeared though his gate before anything else could happen.
The sparkling light of her departure caused the murmuring in the guild to cease as mages just stared at her vacated spot. Bickslow pushed Laxus back one last time as Cobra gazed down at his empty hand wondering what had happened.
"Woah! Did ya see that Happy?!" Natsu exclaimed in the silence. "She had some cool magic, right?" Happy wanted to smack the idiotic Fire Dragon Slayer, who seemed completely oblivious to what else was happened around him.
"She's gone!" Erza whispered sadly as she dropped the front of Grays shirt. She had pulled him out of his seat earlier when Lucy was trying to escape to yell at him for making her want to leave. But now the fight flowed out of her light water leaking out of a spilled cup.
"When she learn to do that?" Gray wondered. Mad that there seemed to be so much about his friend he no longer knew.
It was at this time that Mavis felt she needed to intervene. The person who had made it possible for their guild to keep moving forward, who acted as the very soul of their doctrine, was now gone. The discord between members, the shadows creeping on the walls and making the light seem less effective, and the general hypocrisy she was witnessing seemed to be directly tied to the fall of Lucy.
Mavis grabbed onto Zeref's hand and the two walked to the center of the main group of mages who had confronted Lucy.
"Who the hell are you two?" Laxus spat. He was obviously not in the mood for any more happening today.
Mavis dropped her illusion and waited for the guild to react. Silence. Then chaos.